Barbara E. Carson — profile dossier

Pandemic-program role: As Deputy Associate Administrator of the Office of Disaster Assistance, the office that ran COVID-EIDL and the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, she was the named SBA official and signatory on the SVOG funding notice.
Institution · office: SBA · Office of Disaster Assistance (Deputy Associate Administrator) · Type: career (SES)
Tenure (relief-relevant): Deputy AA, Office of Disaster Assistance ~late 2020 – June 2022; at SBA ~2013–2022.

The job (role mechanics)

Level / appointment: Career SES: Deputy Associate Administrator, Office of Disaster Assistance (at SBA ~2013–2022). Retired U.S. Air Force Reserve Colonel.
Reports to: The Associate Administrator for Disaster Assistance (e.g., James Rivera), and up to the Administrator.
Core responsibility: Helps lead the Office of Disaster Assistance, which administered COVID-EIDL and the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant; she was the named SBA official (contact and signatory) on the SVOG Notice of Funding Opportunity.
Tenure norm: Continuing (career civil servant); does not turn over with administrations. Her actual service: at SBA ~2013 (OVBD → GCBD → Disaster Assistance); Deputy AA ODA ~late 2020 – June 2022 (then to Syracuse University's IVMF).

Who they are

Barbara E. ("Barb") Carson is a retired U.S. Air Force Reserve Colonel and former Senior Executive Service official who spent nearly a decade in leadership roles at SBA, finishing as Deputy Associate Administrator of the Office of Disaster Assistance, the office that administered both COVID-19 EIDL and the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG). She left SBA in June 2022 for Syracuse University.¹²³

Education

M.S. in Management, Lesley University; B.A. in Political Science, University of Iowa.²⁴

Career before the pandemic

Carson retired as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve after 25-plus years of combined active-duty and reserve service, with specialties in nuclear command-and-control and public affairs and assignments across the U.S., Japan, and Europe. Her last assignment was in the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Office of Public Affairs. On the civilian side she joined SBA around 2013 as Associate Administrator of the Office of Veterans Business Development, then served as Deputy Associate Administrator for Government Contracting and Business Development (8(a), HUBZone, WOSB, the All Small Mentor-Protégé Program). She testified before the House Small Business Committee on veterans' business issues in 2017.¹²⁵

Role in the pandemic relief programs

SVOG was expressly assigned to Carson's office, and she is the named SBA official on its Notice of Funding Opportunity: both the "FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT" and the signatory.³

Documents written or signed

SVOG Notice of Funding Opportunity, "Applications for New Awards; Shuttered Venue Operators Grants (SVOG)," 86 FR 16270 (Mar. 26, 2021), FR Doc. 2021-06338; signature block: "Dated: March 23, 2021. Barbara E. Carson, Deputy Associate Administrator, Office of Disaster Assistance."³
Congressional testimony as SBA Associate Administrator, OVBD: House Small Business Committee (Nov. 8, 2017).⁵

Career after / where they are now

She joined Syracuse University's D'Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) in June 2022 (announced June 2, 2022) as Managing Director, Programs and Services, overseeing IVMF's national entrepreneurship, career-training, and community programs and helping stand up its Washington, D.C. headquarters. She remained in that role at least into March 2025 (per a dated House Veterans' Affairs witness bio).¹²⁶⁴

Sources held in this archive

Original source documents and archived captures

Sources (first-party)

Syracuse University News, "Barbara Carson Joins the D'Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families" (June 10, 2022) — SES status; SBA career; IVMF role. Syracuse University News, "Barbara Carson Joins the D'Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families" June 10,... (original: news.syr.edu) ↩
Syracuse University IVMF staff bio, "Barb Carson" (degrees; USAF Reserve Colonel; SBA roles). Syracuse University IVMF staff bio, "Barb Carson" degrees; USAF Reserve Colonel; SBA roles (original: ivmf.syracuse.edu · stored capture) ↩
Federal Register / GPO, SVOG funding notice, 86 FR 16270 (Mar. 26, 2021), FR Doc. 2021-06338 — signature "Barbara E. Carson, Deputy Associate Administrator, Office of Disaster Assistance." Federal Register / GPO, SVOG funding notice, 86 FR 16270 Mar. 26, 2021, FR Doc. 2021-06338 — signature "Barbara E. Ca... (original: govinfo.gov · stored capture) ; Federal Register version: Federal Register / GPO, SVOG funding notice, 86 FR 16270 Mar. 26, 2021, FR Doc. 2021-06338 — signature "Barbara E. Ca... (original: federalregister.gov · stored capture) ↩
House Veterans' Affairs subcommittee witness bio (Mar. 25, 2025), "Barbara Carson" — most recent official bio, still IVMF Managing Director. Hhrg 119 Vr10 Bio Carsonb 20250325 Pdf 6e2c1c7b98e34669 (original: docs.house.gov · stored capture) ↩
House Small Business Committee, "Testimony of Barbara E. Carson" (Nov. 8, 2017), as SBA AA, OVBD. Hhrg 115 Sm00 Wstate Carsonb 20171108 Pdf A66dcf04515d4084 (original: congress.gov · stored capture) ↩
GlobeNewswire/IVMF appointment release (June 2, 2022). GlobeNewswire/IVMF appointment release June 2, 2022 (original: globenewswire.com · stored capture) ↩